The United States Mexico Sister Cities Association was established in 1962.  It has a National Board of Directors which exists primarily to provide information and organizational support for cities with existing affiliations between the United States and Mexico and those wishing to establish such programs.  USMSCA serves as a clearing house for information, as a reference source for its affiliated members on both sides of the border, and as an arbiter on matters of protocol.

        

     It provides assistance to new cities seeking to establish Sister City relationships and for existing affiliations which may need help in getting programs underway or in reviving those that are faltering.  In the 1980’s , a Mexican counterpart the Asociacíon Nacional de Ciudades Hermanas, was formed.          

     The purpose of these activities is to provide a platform for strengthening the programs of all the Sister Cities by an exchange of ideas and mutual support.  Now that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has gone into effect, both associations are making plans to accept sister-city affiliations with Canada.  

       

     The grass-roots strength of the Sister City Movement rests on its “people-to-people” programs.  Thousands of citizens in more than 250 cities throughout the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico are now participating in the direct-contact programs of the individual Sister Cities affiliations which make up the USMSCA.    

     

     These range from cultural, athletic, and student activities to professional, industrial, and commercial exchanges of every form.          

    

     Each program is tailored specifically to the needs of the individual city affiliations.  This is where the real efforts and goals envisioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower are being realized, and where the bridge of true friendship and understanding leading to lasting peace in the world is built.    

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     To those engaged in the Sister City Program it is more than this.  It is discovery; it is adventure; it is a new dimension of self-awareness and awareness of others... AND, IT IS FUN.    

     

     United States Mexico Sister Cities Association is incorporated as a nonprofit organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue of 1954.  All contributions and donations in the Association are tax deductible under Section 170 (c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.